Jason Bateman Updates Arrested Development Movie

03.10.11 by Ryan

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Fox's short-lived sitcom Arrested Development went off the air over five years ago, and the show's loyal fanbase has been waiting for the Arrested Development movie ever since.

Jeffrey Tambor, who played the patriarch of the show's fictional Bluth family, said the movie was "a go" back in 2008, and early last year, Jason Bateman revealed that series creator Mitchell Hurwitz's commitment to another Fox sitcom, Wilde Kingdom (also canceled), would delay the movie until the end of 2010. In July of last year, Hurwitz revealed that a script exists, but requires rewriting.

In a recent interview with MTV, Bateman admitted that the constant delays were "embarrassing" for the cast, however, the actor did reveal that he had met with Hurwitz and progress was looking good for the script.

For the very first time, he sat me down last week to talk abut what he's got and where he's going and what do I think. As a fan of the show, I was vibrating with excitement that he was pulling me behind the curtain. So I can confirm what his update was, which was that he is very deep into the work on it and the odds of him getting it done before the end of the year, as he says he wants to, are good.

Bateman's confidence is in sharp contrast with David Cross who said in February that he wasn't getting his hopes up about the movie. "I'll believe it when I see it," Cross told MTV News. "I'm realistically optimistic, which is to say, not that optimistic."

Cross was perhaps not in contact with Hurwitz, who admitted around the same time as Cross' comments that he hoped to have the movie out by the end of the year.

"We've started that process and it is our sincere hope to shoot it this year and get it out this year," Hurwitz told Digital Spy. "That's what we're hoping, but a lot of things have to fall into place for that to happen."